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Steve Vai performs at UB

by jmaloni
Mon, Jun 11th 2012 05:15 pm

Steve Vai is a virtuoso guitarist, visionary composer, and consummate producer. At age 12, he started taking guitar lessons from Joe Satriani. At 18, he began his professional musical career transcribing for, and then playing with, the legendary Frank Zappa. More than three decades, 15-million in album sales, and three Grammy Awards later, Vai has proven himself, in his own right, one of music's true originals.

Vai performs at the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22. Tickets, at $49.50, $39.50, $34.50 and $29.50, go on sale at 10 a.m. on Friday, June 15 (Center for the Arts Box Office, Ticketmaster, ticketmaster.com, or 1-800-745-3000).

Beverly McClellan will open.

Vai's work has been recognized with a long list of awards, including 12 from Guitar Player magazine. Most recently, the TEC Foundation honored him with the prestigious Les Paul Award, created in 1991 to salute those who have set the highest standard of excellence in the creative application of technology. In bestowing it on Vai, TEC noted, "Steve Vai's sheer breathtaking facility on the guitar is acclaimed in the rock world and beyond. ... Vai has dedicated his talents to creatively advance the language of music. While many artists fit easily into a single category, Steve Vai remains unclassifiable. He is a musical alchemist of the highest order."

Vai's 16th solo album, "The Story of Light," will be released on August 14. For more information, visit www.vai.com or www.ubcfa.org.

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